Automatic railroad-switch



(No Model.)

h WITNES E'S:

W. H. STOWELL.

AUTOMATIC RAILROAD SWITCH.

Patent 2 SheetsSheet 2.

ed Feb. 28,1888,

' CE O I W INVENTOR:

ATTORNEYS.

UNITED STATES PATENT Urrrcn.

lVILLIAM HENRY STOWELL, OF EUREKA, NEVADA.

AUTOMATIC RAILROAD-SWITC H.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 378,809, dated February28, 1888.

l Application filed August 20, 1887. Serial No. 247,499. No mode To allwhom it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, WILLIAM HENRY STOW- ELL, of Eureka, in the county ofEureka and State of Nevada, have invented a new and useful Improvementin Railroad -Switches, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to means for guiding and conducting railway trainsor cars from one track to another intersecting track without theemployment of movable switches, which are dangerous to use and requirethe attention of local switchmen not employed upon the train.

To secure perfect safety and to dispense with the services of switchmenare the principal objects of myinvention. 'lhisI accomplish by means ofa heavy central rail curved to the deflection required and permanentlysecured to the cross-ties of the track, to extend for a suitabledistance upon either side and beyond the point of intersection of thetwo tracks, and by securing a deeply-flanged wheel beneath the engine orcar adapted to be raised or lowered to the level of the central rail toengage with the same, by which means the direction of the train iscontrolled. Means are also provided for raising the flanged guidewheelautomatically from its working position when it has passed the centraltrack or switchrail.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a plan view of my improvedswitch. Fig. 2 is a similar view of an engine, including its cab, and aportion of the adjoining car of a train, partly broken away; and Fig. 3is a sectional elevation of the same standing upon a track embracing myswitch.

The main track A is connected to the branch or side track, A, by acontinuous outer rail, to, on the main track and a continuous innerrail, a, curved to suit the angle of deflection of the side or branchtrack. The inner or meeting rail a of the main track is laid in a 7straight line and extension of the main-track rail ,and tangent to thecurved rail aof the side track, and terminates a short distance beforeit meets the rail a, topermit the flange of the wheel to pass betweenthe end of the meeting rail a and the curved track rail a when the carpasses from the main track to the side track. The outer or meeting raila of the side track is practically straight and joins the outer rail (1of the main track at an angle, the end of the said rail to terminating asufficient distance from the rail a to allow the wheels of the car topass by the end of the meeting rail a and follow the main-track rail aunless it is deflected therefrom.

A heavy switch-rail, B, curved to correspond with the angle ofdeflection of the side track, is secured to the cross-ties to be at oneend central or parallel with the main track and at the other end centralor parallel with the inner rail a of the side track. All of the railsare thus permanently secured to the cross ties and road-bed and form asafe solid track, upon which cars may run with perfect safety andwithout danger of being derailed by a misplaced switch.

The engine C is provided at its forward end in rear of the cow-catcherwith a guide-wheel, D, supported in bearings upon an arm, E, adapted tomove vertically within guides F upon the frame of the engine, and helddown to a level with the central rail by a spiral spring, G, coiledaround the said arm. The upper end of the arm E is joined to and operated upon by the arm h ofa rock-shaft, H, the other arm, h, of which isconnected by a rod, I, to a hand-lever, K, supported upon the rear ofthe engine, within convenient reach of the engineer,to raise the arm Eand guide-wheel D,having flange (2, above the level of the central railwhen the switch mechanism is set to allow the train to keep upon themain track. lVhen the said mechanism is set to conduct the train fromthe main track to the side track, the guide-wheel D is forced down bythe handlever K and spring G to a level with the track to engage withthe switchrail B and be held 0 by the flanges d of said wheel to followthe rail B. The flanges d of the wheel D should be sufficiently deep tosecurely embrace the rail B and hold the wheel D upon it. As theswitchrail B is made concentric with and par- 5 allel to the inner railof the main and side tracks, the forward end of the engine, when guidedby the wheel D and rail B, will leave the main track andbe conducted tothe side track.

A ratchet segment-rack, K, secured to the side of the cab concentric tothe pivot-pin k of the hand-lever K,will hold the lever back and holdthe wheel D and its armli} in their raised position out of engagementwith the switchrail B, when desired. One end of the switchrail B isinclined at b to allow the wheel to pass safely upon the rail B,and theother end of said rail is formed with wedge-shaped projection 1) uponthe top of the rail, over which the guide-wheels roll in order toeffect, when running upon the side track, the automatic adjustment orelevation of the guide-wheels to a position above ,a horizontal planetouching the top edge of the rails. The ratchet seg-' ment-rack K willengage the lever K when the wheel D is raised by the projection 12, tohold the said wheel in its raised position until the lever K isdisengaged from the rack.

The cars 0 are each provided with guidewheels D,,supported in bearingsupon arms E, pivoted at c to the trucks G of said cars, and a spiralspring, G, upon an upwardly-project ing arnnc", on the arm which pressesbetween the car-frame and the arm E, serves to hold said arm E andguide-wheel D supported thereon down to hold the said guide-wheel to thelevel of the switch-rail B. A lever, K", secured to the arm E to projectup through the platform, is notched at 70' to engage with a plate, 7?,upon the platform or car-frame and hold the wheel I) in its raisedposition.

By disengaging the notched lever from its retaining plate the wheel Dwill beheld down to the level of the track by the spring G. The wheels DD may be raised and lowered by any well-known or preferred means withoutdeparting from my invention.

Cars with the guide-wheel attached could be used on tracks or roads inwhich the common switch is employed, as the said wheel would be raisedenough to clear all tracks.

The cars will always be carried by the main track if the engineer shouldforget to drop the guide-wheel. The guide-wheels of all of the cars maybe connected and operated by devices under'control of the engineer, acord or chain, L, passing under the cars and engine and connected withthe rock-shaft I-I upon the for ward end of the engine will serve thepurpose, or the said guide-whcels may all be operated by airor steam ina manner similar to that employed for operating the brakes.

WVhere a number of tracks branch it would be necessary for one branchtrack to leave the main track the length of a rail behind the nextsucceeding side track.

The wedge-shaped projection b may be placed upon the cross-tie, insteadof upon the rail B, if preferred, and will operate upon the arm E toraise the guide-wheel in an effective manner.

I claim as myinvention and desire to secure by Letters Patent 1. In aswitch mechanism, the track providcd with a guide-rail arranged betweenand parallel with the main-track rails and between and parallel with therails of: the branch track, in combination with mechanism supported uponthe car or engine to engage said guiderail,whieh guide'rail is inclinedat one end and provided with a wedge-shaped projection at its other end,substantially as set forth.

2. In a switch mechanism, the combination, with the car or engine, ofthe flanged guidewheel supported beneath said car or engine, adapted tobe raised or lowered thereon, and a wedge-shaped projection upon thetrack for raising the said guidewheel, substantially as described.

3. The combination, with the car, of a vertically-moving arm carrying aguide-wheel adapted to run upon a guide-rail on the track, a springoperating upon said arm to hold it down to the rail, and a rock'levcrfor raising and locking the arm in its raised position.

4. The eombination,with the car and engine of a train, of flangedguide-wheels supported upon said car and engine, to be vertically raisedand lowered thereon to engage with a guide-rail upon the traclgand meansfor supporting and connecting said guide-wheels and operating themconjointly from a single point on the train, substantially as described.

XVILLIAM HENRY STOWELL.

Witnesses:

CLAY SrMMs, WM. LEVY.

